Representing yourself in court: things to keep in mind

Many people who want to sue someone for a specific reason, eventually renounce this method because they just cannot afford a solicitor. However, it is worth mentioning that you can actually represent yourself in court if you want and you do not have to pay anything if you opt for this. In specialty terms, this situation is known as “pro se” or “pro per”, which in Latin means “for oneself” or “on one’s own behalf”. However, those who are thinking “I can represent myself in court” should take into account some important aspects.

The first thing people should do in such situation is to make sure that the state or the country where the lawsuit is held does not actually require to be represented by an attorney for their specific case. They can check this at the local clerk’s office for instance. After deciding that a lawsuit or a claim is the best option, it is time to analyse the strengths of the case. In this phase, people should check the strength of the evidence they have for the case, while also paying attention to the evidence the other side provides. It is important to know how to value the evidence they have, because they are going to build their case based on it.

In eventuality one does not know the laws, rights involved or how they can defend themselves in court, one should know that there are some online platforms that actually provide legal tutorial services for various domains, such as family law, employment law, driver’s law, immigration law and so on. As a result, anyone who needs independent legal advice should do some research on the internet and look for such platforms where they can learn more about how to build their case and what aspects to focus more on when they represent themselves in court.

When bringing a claim, it is important to start preparing your case as soon as possible. For this reason, gathering proper evidence early is crucial for your case. Whether you resort to witnesses who took part at an event and can testify presenting what they saw, or you bring some documents or even physical evidence such as fingerprints or blood samples, you have to make sure it is sustainable and it can help you win the case. In order to make everything a lot easier, you should start with creating a list of your witnesses and another one with potential questions for those witnesses. You can give a copy of it to them in order for them to prepare their answers. It is recommended to draft what you are about to say, because you will not be represented by a lawyer and you will have to present the testimony as if it were a speech.

As it was previously mentioned, there are many online platforms that can help people prepare for representing themselves in court, and Be My Lawyer is only one very good example. If one decides to go in court without a lawyer, it is highly important to know all the legal terms and the laws related to that lawsuit.